lip service

See also: lipservice

English

Alternative forms

• lipservice, lip-service

Etymology

1640s, compare earlier lip-labour.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Noun

lip service (uncountable)

1. (idiomatic) Promising but empty talk; words without action or intention.

   The candidate gave lip service to fixing the problems, but it is doubtful that he will do much.

   • 1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle:

     Don’t madam me, — I can’t bear none of your lip service. I’m a plain-spoken woman, that’s what I am, and I like other people’s tongues to be as plain as mine.

   • 1995, Alanis Morissette (lyrics and music), “Head over Feet”, in Jagged Little Pill:

     Your love is thick, and it swallowed me whole / You're so much braver than I gave you credit for / That's not lip service

   • 2020 November 11, John Eligon, Audra D. S. Burch, “Black Voters Helped Deliver Biden a Presidential Victory. Now What?”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     “OK, let’s see if he’s really being honest about this,” Ms. Neloms, 42, who is Black, recalled thinking. “My prayer is that it’s not just lip service.”

2. (slang, vulgar) Cunnilingus (sometimes also referred to as giving lip).

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:oral sex

   Jack gave Samantha lip service.

Related terms

• eyeservice
• lip comfort
• lip-deep
• lip devotion
• lip-labour
• lip religion
• lip wisdom

 

Translations

Empty talk; words absent of action or intention

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 空口 (hung¹ hau²)

  Mandarin: 空口 (zh) (kōngkǒu)

• Dutch: lippendienst (nl)
• Finnish: tyhjä puhe, tyhjät sanat pl
• French: baratin (fr) m, boniment (fr) m
• German: Lippenbekenntnis (de) n
• Italian: promessa vuota f, adesione di facciata f
• Japanese: 口先 (ja) (kuchisaki), リップサービス (ja) (rippu sābisu)
• Manx: beeal-ghraih m
• Maori: ngutu kau, tautoko-ā-māngai, pare-ā-waha, kai-ā-waha
• Norwegian: tomprat, tomt prat
• Portuguese: papo furado (Brazil), falar da boca para fora
• Russian: пусты́е слова́ n pl (pustýje slová), неи́скренние словоизлия́ния n pl (neískrennije slovoizlijánija)
• Spanish: choro (es) (Mexico), rollo (es) (Mexico), labia (es) f, hacer brindis al sol
• Swedish: läpparnas bekännelse c
• Tagalog: ngawngaw

cunnilingus — see cunnilingus